Wings looking to feel good about themselves heading to playoffs

Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock talks with Daniel Alfredsson (11) as he returns to the bench in the first period against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Wednesday. Alfredsson will miss Sunday’s regular season finale at St. Louis. Joakim Andersson will take his place. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

DETROIT >> Sunday afternoon’s game between the Wings and St. Louis Blues has a ton of meaning for one team and could possibly have little to no meaning for another.

The Blues need a win to at least jump ahead of Colorado for the second seed in the Western Conference and thus avoid opening up against the defending Stanley Cup champs, the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Avalanche play later Sunday night.

St. Louis could also still garnish the top seed if Anaheim fails to earn a point over its final two games, one of which was played late Saturday night.

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For Detroit, if Columbus earns two points from its final game Saturday night against Florida the Wings will be locked into the second wild card spot and thus have to face the Boston Bruins, who finished with the best record in the league after topping Buffalo on Saturday.

“Just play well,” Jimmy Howard said. “You want to feel good about yourself going into the playoffs. It’s as simple as that.”

“It shouldn’t be,” Niklas Kronwall said when asked if it’s hard to perhaps overlook this game. “We’ve got some things we need to work on so this would be a good time to do it.”

The Wings could have been a step closer to assuring them the top wild spot if it wasn’t for their loss Friday to the lowly Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1.

“I don’t think we played bad by any means,” Howard said. “It was one of those things where we’ve been playing playoff hockey for almost two months and we finally got a place in the playoffs and took our foot off the gas a little bit. You could see it out there.”

Ins and outs

Daniel Alfredsson won’t play Sunday in St. Louis.

Joakim Andersson will take his spot after being a healthy scratch the last five games.

“That was my first time ever being a healthy scratch,” Andersson said. “It’s tough, obviously. The guys have been doing good, made the playoffs. It’s going to be fun going into a series.”

Andersson will skate with Darren Helm and Tomas Jurco.

“We have a lot of good players,” Andersson said. “A lot of guys from Grand Rapids were playing well. Myself, I haven’t been great.”

Andersson, who missed six games with a broken foot, is a minus-11 in 64 games this season.

“This season has been up and down for me,” said Andersson, who has eight goals and nine assists. “I think I can be a better player. Other players have been doing good.”

Wings coach Mike Babcock said that sitting Andersson had nothing to do with his play on the ice.

“Andy’s been good,” Babcock said. “Andy just got in a situation where I tried something else, it worked. Andy’s a good player, plays hard for us, a smart, important part of our team. It had nothing to do with anything he did.”

Alfredsson has been bothered by a sore back.

Babcock said that he will be ready for the start of the playoffs on Wednesday or Thursday.

David Legwand also didn’t practice today, but will play Sunday.

Jimmy Howard will start in goal.

Miller time

Drew Miller has yet to score on his older brother, Ryan, the goalie for the Blues.

“I’m always trying to score goals every game,” said Drew, who has yet to score a goal on his brother in the NHL. “Nothing really changes there. It would be cool to get one on him. Record wise I know I have him. Not sure what it is, but I know I have him pretty good I think. We’ll see if we can continue that.

“I’ve had a few shots, but nothing that I would say was a Grade-A chance,” Drew added. “Every game I just try and do what I do.”

Ryan was dealt from Buffalo to the Blues prior to the trade deadline.

“It went to seeing him maybe once a year, to having him in our division and then he leaves,” Drew said. “Then we play them two more times at the end of the year and he’s already gone from Buffalo. I guess that’s just the way it works sometimes.

“Any chance you get to play against each other it’s fun,” Drew continued. “You try and make the most of it. Most of it is off the ice, just getting a chance to see him.”

Send comments to chuck.pleiness@macombdaily.com and visit his blog at redwingsfront.wordpress.com